Soroti Bishop threatens action against clergy flouting tree-planting directive

20 August 2026, 3:25 pm

By Emmy Delux Alomu

The Anglican Bishop of Soroti Diocese, Rt Rev Kosea Odongo, has warned of tough disciplinary action against religious leaders in the diocese who flout his tree-planting directive.

In 2025, Bishop Odongo issued a strict directive requiring all clergy, including priests and lay readers, to ensure that bereaved families plant 100 trees before presiding over any burial rites.

He extended the same requirement to major life celebrations in the diocese, including weddings, birthdays, bridal introductions, thanksgiving services, and celebrations of pregnancy and childbirth.

However, while preaching during the burial of Emmanuel Oguya, a renowned businessman in Orungo Town, Amuria District, on Wednesday, 19 August 2026, Bishop Odongo expressed concern over some clerics whom he accused of disregarding the directive.

He said he had received numerous reports of clerics in the diocese, particularly in Orungo Archdeaconry, presiding over funeral rites and other functions without families planting trees, contrary to his directive.

“Before you start conducting any burial rite, please ask the bereaved family or the organisers for trees. Without them, please leave that place,” Bishop Odongo told the clergy present at the burial.

Bishop Odongo warned that any cleric who continues to preside over services without ensuring compliance with the directive does not have the best interests of the people at heart.

The bishop also encouraged families to incorporate tree seedlings into customary marriage ceremonies.

According to Bishop Odongo, environmental protection should be included in the letter a suitor presents to the bride’s parents.

“I want us to add the aspect of trees. Even when the envelope of money is presented to you without a tree, do not allow your daughter to go,” he said.

He said the directive was a response to the severe effects of climate change, which have threatened biodiversity, disrupted livelihoods and increased health risks associated with vector- and water-borne diseases.

The bishop explained that climate change is now a reality driven by continued human activities such as wetland cultivation, bush burning and large-scale tree felling for charcoal production without replanting.

“Uganda’s forest cover has been heavily depleted over the decades due to deforestation, charcoal burning and the expansion of farmlands,” Bishop Odongo said.

The Teso Sub-region remains particularly vulnerable to prolonged dry spells and erratic rainfall, which continue to undermine farming, the main source of livelihood for many families.

Bishop Odongo also encouraged the community to live in accordance with God’s will, reminding them that faith and compassion should guide their actions.

He further urged the community not to put pressure on the widow and orphans, recognising their vulnerability during such a difficult time.